System and method for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user

ABSTRACT

A method for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user. The method begins by monitoring a computer system to identify said system lag. After identifying system lag, the method determines an estimated length of the system lag, the estimated length being a measurement of time. The estimated length takes into account previously identified system lag lengths to better approximate the current system lag length. After determining the estimated length of the system lag, the method sends a fact to the end user during the system lag. The fact sent to the end user has a length equal to or less than the estimated length of the system lag. Finally, the method stores the actual length of the system lag in order to improve subsequent determinations of the estimated length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to providing facts to an enduser, and more particularly to providing facts to an end user duringmoments where the user waits for a computer system to respond to acommand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method for utilizing system lag to sendfacts to an end user, said method comprising: monitoring a computersystem to identify said system lag; in response to having identifiedsaid system lag, determining an estimated length of said system lag,said estimated length being a measurement of time; sending a fact tosaid end user during said system lag, said fact having a length equal toor less than said estimated length; and storing the actual length ofsaid system lag in order to improve subsequent determinations of saidestimated length.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for utilizing system lag to send facts to anend user, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer system which may facilitate a method forutilizing system lag to send facts to an end user, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Definitions

The term “lag” as used in the specification and subsequently in theclaims means the amount of time which elapses between the last commandreceived by a computer system and the time at which the computer systemreturns a response to the last command.

The term “repository” as used in the specification and subsequently inthe claims means a storage location which may be formatted in amultitude of different ways (e.g. relational database, XML file, CSVfile, spreadsheet, flat file, etc.).

The terms “advertisement”, “promotional information”, “productinformation” and “public service message” as used in the specificationand subsequently in the claims means a notice in the print, broadcast,or electronic media, designed to attract public attention or patronagetowards a good and/or service.

Specification

Although certain embodiments of the present invention are describedherein, it is understood modifications may be made to the presentinvention without departing from its course and scope. Scope of thepresent invention is not limited to the number of constitutingcomponents, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, the relativearrangement thereof, etc. Furthermore, while the accompanying drawingsillustrate certain embodiments of the present invention, such drawingsare not necessarily depicted to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method 100 for utilizing system lag to send factsto an end user, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.The method 100 begins with step 102 which prompts the end user for atleast one subject.

Step 102 prompts the end user for at least one subject. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the prompt comprises a question(e.g. “What would you like to learn more about?”) to which the end userresponds identifying at least one subject (e.g. the Milky Way, AlbertEinstein, Dinosaurs, etc.) in which the end user would like to learnabout.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the prompt comprises alist of subjects that the method 100 offers. The end user then selects,via checkmark or some other identifying means, at least one subjectcontained in said prompt which the end user wishes to learn about.

Completion of step 102 occurs upon receipt from the end user of anidentification of at least one subject to which the end user wishes tolearn about. After completion of step 102, the method continues withstep 104 which retrieves the facts associated with the selectedsubject(s).

Step 104 retrieves facts correlating to each subject selected by the enduser in step 102. Step 104 retrieves multiple facts for each subjectselected by the end user. The facts for a given subject comprisedifferent lengths, length being a measurement of the time necessary fora typical end user to process the fact. It is understood that multiplefacts for a single subject may comprise the same length. Collectively,the facts as a whole for a single subject comprise different lengths inan effort to use system lags of different lengths to provide a fact tothe end user.

It is also understood that the facts retrieved by the present inventionare not advertisements, promotional information, product information, orpublic service messages. In the spirit of the present invention thefacts do not direct the end user towards a good and/or service, butinstead provide information about a subject to which the end userpreviously specified.

For example, a fact of short length regarding the Milky Way may be “TheMilky Way looks brightest in the direction of the constellation ofSagittarius, toward the galactic center”, where a fact of a long lengthmay be “The stellar disk of the Milky Way galaxy is approximately100,000 light years in diameter, and is believed to be, on average,about 1,000 light years thick.” The varying lengths of the facts for agiven subject are necessary to better utilize the system lag to providean appropriate fact to the end user.

Step 104 retrieves facts for each subject from repositories. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the repositories reside on a serveraccessible via a network connection. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, the repositories reside in storage device connectedto the computer system to which step 104 retrieves the facts. Afterretrieving the facts, step 104 is completed and the method 100 continueswith step 106 which monitors the computer system for lag.

Step 106 monitors the computer system for lag. System lag may be thetime a processor requires to calculate a value. System lag may be thetime it takes the computer system to request information and receivesaid information from a remote network. Moreover, system lag may bemonitored by different methods. On method for monitoring and detectingsystem lag is for step 106 to monitor the computer ports on the computersystem. The computer ports provide a physical interface between thecomputer system and peripheral devices. By monitoring the computerports, step 106 can detect a request made to a peripheral device and thelag associated therein.

For example, step 106 can monitor port 110 on the computer system, port110 is conventionally used for POP3 mail transfer. When step 106 detectsa request sent via port 110, it can be inferred from the nature of emailrequests that the computer system will incur system lag betweensubmitting the request for email and receiving the requested email.

Another method for detecting system lag is for step 106 to monitor theoutput devices 910 (see FIG. 2, infra) connected to the computer system.For example, step 106 may monitor a hard disc drive (HDD) for activity.If step 106 detects data being written to and/or read from the HDD, itcan infer that the computer system is experiencing system lag due tosending or retrieving data from the HDD.

It is also known by those possessing skill in the art that themonitoring performed by step 106 may include, inter alia, monitoring aprinter, a plotter, a computer screen, a magnetic tape, a removable harddisk, a floppy disk, a NIC, a VOIP adapter, a wireless adapter, atelephone adapter, a dedicated circuit adapter, an audio and/or visualsignal generator, a light emitting diode (LED), a cache, a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, afloppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical storage such as a compact disc(CD) or a digital video disc (DVD), etc.

After completion of step 106 where system lag is detected, the method100 continues with step 108 which estimates the length of the currentsystem lag.

Step 108 estimates the length of the current system lag, the estimationbeginning with step 110 wherein the method 100 identifies the commandresponsible for the current system lag.

Step 110 identifies the command responsible for the current system lag.In one embodiment of the present invention, the method 100 monitors allcommands received from the end user, third party, other computer, etc.After identifying a system lag pursuant to step 106, step 110 readilyreviews the last known command received thus identifying the commandresponsible for the lag. After identifying the command responsible forthe current lag, step 110 completes and the method 100 continues withstep 112 which identifies and/or determines the estimated length of thecurrent system lag.

Step 112 identifies and/or determines the estimated length of thecurrent system lag. Step 112 maintains a repository of all commandsidentified as having previously caused a system lag. The repositoryfurther comprises a length, measured in units of time (e.g. seconds,millisecond, microsecond, etc.) for each previously identified commandcausing a system lag. The estimated length of system lag for eachidentified command may be, inter alia, the mean, median, or mode lengthof system lag for the given command. Therefore it is understood that thepresent invention utilizes previously identified and utilized systemlags to better approximate future system lags, therein better utilizingfuture system lags to provide an end user with a fact on a selectedsubject.

Step 112 receives the identified command, looks up the identifiedcommand in the repository, and identifies the corresponding length ofthe system lag for the identified command.

In one embodiment of the present invention, if the identified command isabsent from the repository, step 112 creates a new entry in therepository (the identified command) and assigns the correspondingestimated length of lag as zero (0).

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, if the identifiedcommand is absent from the repository, step 112 creates a new entry inthe repository (the identified command) and assigns the correspondingestimated length of lag equal to the length of lag for a similarcommand. For example, if step 112 determines that the identified command“login to email” does not reside within the repository, step 112 createsa new repository entry for “login to email”. Step 112 would thendetermine a similar command already residing in the repository, perhaps“login to credit card webpage”. If “login to credit card webpage”correlates to an estimated system lag of 2.51 seconds, step 112 willassign “login to email” an estimated system lag time of 2.51 seconds.

After completion of step 112, the method 100 continues with step 114which identifies a fact having a similar length to the estimated lag,said estimated lag being identified in step 112.

Step 114 identifies a fact having a length not exceeding the estimatedlag (e.g. about the same length or a smaller length), said estimated lagbeing previously identified in step 112. Prior to step 114 andpreferably before step 106, a collection of various facts spanning thedifferent subjects selected in response to step 102 are stored in thecomputer system cache and/or memory (RAM). The collection of factsshould also contain facts of different lengths to accommodate systemlags of different lengths. Step 114 receives the estimated system lagtime from step 112 and identifies a fact residing in cache and/or memoryof the same or smaller length.

For example, if the estimated system lag identified for the command“login to email” is 2.51 seconds, step 114 would search the factsresiding in the cache and/or memory for a fact of the same or smaller2.51 second length. After identifying a fact equal or lesser length tothe estimated lag, step 114 completes and the method 100 continues withstep 116 which sends the identified fact to the end user.

Step 116 sends the identified fact to the end user. In one embodiment ofthe present invention, the fact is displayed through a graphical userinterface on an output device 910 (see FIG. 2, infra), primarily amonitor and/or liquid crystal display. In an alternative embodiment ofthe present invention, the fact may be of an audio nature and sent to anoutput device 910 such as a set of speakers connected to the computersystem.

The fact will be displayed in such a manner so as to differentiate saidfact from any program, application, operating system, or service the enduser is currently utilizing on the computer system. For example, thefact may be displayed on a computer monitor with characteristicsdifferent from running applications, such as different font, font color,font style, location, etc. Similarly if the fact audio in nature, thepresent invention may mute current audio sounds emanating from thecomputer in order to provide the audio fact to the end user.

It is understood that in an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, a given fact may be sent to the end user multiple times toincrease the end user's semantic declarative knowledge. Declarativeknowledge is factual information stored in one's memory and known to bestatic in nature. Semantic knowledge is the memory of words, facts,meanings of words, etc. The present invention increases an end user'ssemantic declarative knowledge by repeatedly sending facts to the enduser, which is also known as repetition priming.

Repetition priming refers to the theory that an initial presentation ofa stimulus influences the way in which an end user will respond to thatstimulus when it is presented at a later time. By repeatedly sending agiven fact to the end user, the present invention encourages the enduser to retain the given fact as semantic declarative knowledge.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a given fact maybe repeatedly sent to the end user a predetermined number of times. Thepredetermined number, also known as a threshold, may be established bythe end user during the subject selection process (see step 102, supra).Once the number of times a given fact is sent to the end user exceedsthe threshold, the fact is no longer available during step 114 when thepresent invention identifies a fact having the same or shorter lengththan the estimated system lag.

After sending the fact to the end user, step 116 completes and themethod 100 continues with step 118 which stores the actual length of thecurrent system lag.

Step 118 stores the actual length of the current system lag. When step118 detects the response to the command initiating the current systemlag, step 118 calculates the actual length of the system lag. The actuallength of the current system lag and therein incorporated into therepository managed by step 112.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the incorporation comprisesaveraging the estimated length of the lag residing in the repositorywith the actual system lag recorded by step 118. In an alternativeembodiment of the present invention, the incorporation comprisesdetermining the median length of the estimated lag for the command byutilizing the actual system lag captured by 118.

After completion of step 118, the method 100 returns to step 106 tomonitor for future system lag. An alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, after step 118, the method 100 ends.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the method 100would begin with step 106 monitoring for the system lag. In thisalternative embodiment, the subject and accompanying facts prompted forin step 102 and retrieved pursuant to step 104 are foregone provided theend user already supplied the requested subjects in a previous instanceof the present invention.

For example, the end user previously identified ‘Milky Way’ as a subjectin which they would like learn about. During the first instance of thepresent invention, facts regarding the Milky Way would be provided tothe end user during system lag. When the first instance ends and thesecond instance begins, the present invention would continue providingfacts regarding the Milky Way to the end user. Therefore, prompting theend user for identification of a subject which they would like to learnabout is redundant and skipped.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer system 900 which may facilitate a methodfor utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

The computer system 900 comprises a processor 908, an input device 906coupled to the processor 908, an output device 910 coupled to theprocessor 908, and memory devices 902 and 912 each coupled to theprocessor 908.

The input device 906 may be, inter alia, a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad,a touchscreen, a voice recognition device, a sensor, a network interfacecard (NIC), a Voice/video over Internet Protocol (VOIP) adapter, awireless adapter, a telephone adapter, a dedicated circuit adapter, etc.

The output device 910 may be, inter alia, a printer, a plotter, acomputer screen, a magnetic tape, a removable hard disk, a floppy disk,a NIC, a VOIP adapter, a wireless adapter, a telephone adapter, adedicated circuit adapter, an audio and/or visual signal generator, alight emitting diode (LED), etc.

The memory devices 902 and 912 may be, inter alia, a cache, a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, afloppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical storage such as a compact disc(CD) or a digital video disc (DVD), etc. The memory device 912 includesa computer code 914 which is a computer program that comprisescomputer-executable instructions.

The computer code 914 includes, inter alia, an algorithm used forutilizing system lag to send facts to an end user according to thepresent invention. The processor 908 executes the computer code 914. Thememory device 902 includes input data 904. The input data 904 includesinput required by the computer code 914. The output device 910 displaysoutput from the computer code 914. Either or both memory devices 902 and912 (or one or more additional memory devices not shown in FIG. 2) maybe used as a computer usable medium (or a computer readable medium or aprogram storage device) having a computer readable program embodiedtherein and/or having other data stored therein, wherein the computerreadable program comprises the computer code 914. Generally, a computerprogram product (or, alternatively, an article of manufacture) of thecomputer system 900 may comprise said computer usable medium (or saidprogram storage device).

Any of the components of the present invention can be deployed, managed,serviced, etc. by a service provider that offers to deploy or integratecomputing infrastructure with respect to a process for utilizing systemlag to send facts to an end user. Thus, the present invention disclosesa process for supporting computer infrastructure, comprisingintegrating, hosting, maintaining and deploying computer-readable codeinto a computing system (e.g., computing system 900), wherein the codein combination with the computing system is capable of performing amethod for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method thatperforms the process steps of the invention on a subscription,advertising and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider, such as aSolution Integrator, can offer to create, maintain, support, etc. aprocess for authenticating an end user. In this case, the serviceprovider can create, maintain, support, etc. a computer infrastructurethat performs the process steps of the invention for one or morecustomers. In return, the service provider can receive payment from thecustomer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement, and/or theservice provider can receive payment from the sale of advertisingcontent to one or more third parties.

While FIG. 2 shows the computer system 900 as a particular configurationof hardware and software, any configuration of hardware and software, aswould be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, may be utilizedfor the purposes stated supra in conjunction with the particularcomputer system 900 of FIG. 2. For example, the memory devices 902 and912 may be portions of a single memory device rather than separatememory devices.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed herein for purposes of illustration, many modifications andchanges will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly,the appended claims are intended to encompass all such modifications andchanges as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

1. A method for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user, saidmethod comprising: monitoring a computer system to identify said systemlag; in response to having identified said system lag, determining anestimated length of said system lag, said estimated length being ameasurement of time; sending a fact to said end user during said systemlag, said fact having a length equal to or less than said estimatedlength; and storing the actual length of said system lag in order toimprove subsequent determinations of said estimated length.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, where prior to said monitoring: receiving from saidend user an identification of at least one subject which said end userwishes to learn about, said receiving being in response to promptingsaid end user for said at least one subject; retrieving facts for eachsubject of said at least one subject, each fact of said facts having alength, said length being a measurement of time; and storing said factsfor each subject of said at least one subject in a first repository. 3.The method of claim 1, where prior to said monitoring: receiving fromsaid end user an identification of at least one subject which said enduser wishes to learn about, said at least one subject being a subset ofa list of subjects, said receiving being in response to providing saidend user with said list of subjects; retrieving facts for each subjectof said at least one subject, each fact of said facts having a length,said length being a measurement of time; and storing said facts for eachsubject of said at least one subject in a first repository.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, said determining further comprising: identifying alast command received by said computer system before having identifiedsaid system lag; searching a second repository for said last command;and in response to having found said last command in said secondrepository, using a length in said second repository corresponding tosaid last command as said estimated length.
 5. The method of claim 1,said determining further comprising: identifying a last command receivedby said computer system before having identified said system lag;searching a second repository for said last command; and in response tohaving not found said last command in said second repository, addingsaid last command to said second repository, adding a length of zero tosaid second repository, associating said length of zero to said lastcommand, and using said length of zero as said estimated length.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, said storing further comprising: identifying a lastcommand received by said computer system before having identified saidsystem lag; searching a second repository for said last command; and inresponse to having found said last command in said second repository,storing said actual length of said system lag in said second repository,deleting from said second repository a length corresponding to said lastcommand, and associating in said second repository said actual lengthwith said last command.
 7. The method of claim 1, said storing furthercomprising: identifying a last command received by said computer systembefore having identified said system lag; searching a second repositoryfor said last command; and in response to having found said last commandin said second repository, storing a value in said second repositoryequal to an average between said actual length of said system lag and alength located in said second repository corresponding to said lastcommand, and associating in said second repository said value with saidlast command.
 8. A computer program product, comprising acomputer-usable storage medium having a computer-readable program codestored therein, said computer-readable program code containinginstructions that when executed by a processor of a computer systemimplement a method for utilizing system lag to send facts to an enduser, said method comprising: monitoring a computer system to identifysaid system lag; in response to having identified said system lag,determining an estimated length of said system lag, said estimatedlength being a measurement of time; sending a fact to said end userduring said system lag, said fact having a length equal to or less thansaid estimated length; and storing the actual length of said system lagin order to improve subsequent determinations of said estimated length.9. The computer program product of claim 8, where prior to saidmonitoring: receiving from said end user an identification of at leastone subject which said end user wishes to learn about, said receivingbeing in response to prompting said end user for said at least onesubject; retrieving facts for each subject of said at least one subject,each fact of said facts having a length, said length being a measurementof time; and storing said facts for each subject of said at least onesubject in a first repository.
 10. The computer program product of claim8, where prior to said monitoring: receiving from said end user anidentification of at least one subject which said end user wishes tolearn about, said at least one subject being a subset of a list ofsubjects, said receiving being in response to providing said end userwith said list of subjects; retrieving facts for each subject of said atleast one subject, each fact of said facts having a length, said lengthbeing a measurement of time; and storing said facts for each subject ofsaid at least one subject in a first repository.
 11. The computerprogram product of claim 8, said determining further comprising:identifying a last command received by said computer system beforehaving identified said system lag; searching a second repository forsaid last command; and in response to having found said last command insaid second repository, using a length in said second repositorycorresponding to said last command as said estimated length.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, said determining furthercomprising: identifying a last command received by said computer systembefore having identified said system lag; searching a second repositoryfor said last command; and in response to having not found said lastcommand in said second repository, adding said last command to saidsecond repository, adding a length of zero to said second repository,associating said length of zero to said last command, and using saidlength of zero as said estimated length.
 13. The computer programproduct of claim 8, said storing further comprising: identifying a lastcommand received by said computer system before having identified saidsystem lag; searching a second repository for said last command; and inresponse to having found said last command in said second repository,storing said actual length of said system lag in said second repository,deleting from said second repository a length corresponding to said lastcommand, and associating in said second repository said actual lengthwith said last command.
 14. The computer program product of claim 8,said storing further comprising: identifying a last command received bysaid computer system before having identified said system lag; searchinga second repository for said last command; and in response to havingfound said last command in said second repository, storing a value insaid second repository equal to an average between said actual length ofsaid system lag and a length located in said second repositorycorresponding to said last command, and associating in said secondrepository said value with said last command.
 15. A computing systemcomprising a processor coupled to a computer-readable memory unit, saidmemory unit comprising a software application, said software applicationcomprising instruction that when executed by said processor, implement amethod for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user, saidmethod comprising: monitoring a computer system to identify said systemlag; in response to having identified said system lag, determining anestimated length of said system lag, said estimated length being ameasurement of time; sending a fact to said end user during said systemlag, said fact having a length equal to or less than said estimatedlength; and storing the actual length of said system lag in order toimprove subsequent determinations of said estimated length.
 16. Thecomputing system of claim 15, where prior to said monitoring: receivingfrom said end user an identification of at least one subject which saidend user wishes to learn about, said receiving being in response toprompting said end user for said at least one subject; retrieving factsfor each subject of said at least one subject, each fact of said factshaving a length, said length being a measurement of time; and storingsaid facts for each subject of said at least one subject in a firstrepository.
 17. The computing system of claim 15, where prior to saidmonitoring: receiving from said end user an identification of at leastone subject which said end user wishes to learn about, said at least onesubject being a subset of a list of subjects, said receiving being inresponse to providing said end user with said list of subjects;retrieving facts for each subject of said at least one subject, eachfact of said facts having a length, said length being a measurement oftime; and storing said facts for each subject of said at least onesubject in a first repository.
 18. The computing system of claim 15,said determining further comprising: identifying a last command receivedby said computer system before having identified said system lag;searching a second repository for said last command; and in response tohaving found said last command in said second repository, using a lengthin said second repository corresponding to said last command as saidestimated length.
 19. The computing system of claim 15, said determiningfurther comprising: identifying a last command received by said computersystem before having identified said system lag; searching a secondrepository for said last command; and in response to having not foundsaid last command in said second repository, adding said last command tosaid second repository, adding a length of zero to said secondrepository, associating said length of zero to said last command, andusing said length of zero as said estimated length.
 20. The computingsystem of claim 15, said storing further comprising: identifying a lastcommand received by said computer system before having identified saidsystem lag; searching a second repository for said last command; and inresponse to having found said last command in said second repository,storing said actual length of said system lag in said second repository,deleting from said second repository a length corresponding to said lastcommand, and associating in said second repository said actual lengthwith said last command.
 21. The computing system of claim 15, saidstoring further comprising: identifying a last command received by saidcomputer system before having identified said system lag; searching asecond repository for said last command; and in response to having foundsaid last command in said second repository, storing a value in saidsecond repository equal to an average between said actual length of saidsystem lag and a length located in said second repository correspondingto said last command, and associating in said second repository saidvalue with said last command.
 22. A process for supporting computerinfrastructure, said process comprising providing at least one supportservice for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining,and deploying computer-readable code in a computing system, wherein saidcode in combination with the computing system is capable of implementinga method for utilizing system lag to send facts to an end user, saidmethod comprising: monitoring a computer system to identify said systemlag; in response to having identified said system lag, determining anestimated length of said system lag, said estimated length being ameasurement of time; sending a fact to said end user during said systemlag, said fact having a length equal to or less than said estimatedlength; and storing the actual length of said system lag in order toimprove subsequent determinations of said estimated length.
 23. Theprocess for supporting computer infrastructure of claim 22, where priorto said monitoring: receiving from said end user an identification of atleast one subject which said end user wishes to learn about, saidreceiving being in response to prompting said end user for said at leastone subject; retrieving facts for each subject of said at least onesubject, each fact of said facts having a different length, said lengthbeing a measurement of time; and storing said facts for each subject ofsaid at least one subject in a first repository.
 24. The process forsupporting computer infrastructure of claim 22, where prior to saidmonitoring: receiving from said end user an identification of at leastone subject which said end user wishes to learn about, said at least onesubject being a subset of a list of subjects, said receiving being inresponse to providing said end user with said list of subjects;retrieving facts for each subject of said at least one subject, eachfact of said facts having a length, said length being a measurement oftime; and storing said facts for each subject of said at least onesubject in a first repository.
 25. The process for supporting computerinfrastructure of claim 22, said determining further comprising:identifying a last command received by said computer system beforehaving identified said system lag; searching a second repository forsaid last command; and in response to having found said last command insaid second repository, using a length in said second repositorycorresponding to said last command as said estimated length.